Chinatown stone statues defaced

It took delinquents less than a month to deface one of a pair of Chinese lion statues on Charlotte Street.

The statues, which were installed by the Port of Spain City Corporation in February, were donated by the People's Republic of China.

The donation was made as the city renamed part of Charlotte Street :Chinatown," and put up arches between Park Street and Independence Square and Chinese lanterns above the street vendors and daily traffic.

On Thursday photos of obscenities scribbled across the back on one of the monuments, using a marker, went viral on social media.

Mayor Joel Martinez said he was disgusted by the act when Newsday contacted him on Thursday afternoon.

He said, "I haven't seen the photos, but I have a report that it was defaced. My first thoughts were, 'Why would someone see something that looks so rich and significant and important to our city, that you could feel like you have the right to deface it?'"

He said he will visit the area to see what other damage has been done to have an idea of the repairs the statues needed.

"The other day someone wrote on Cipriani statue, and that seems to be the order of the day when you try to help people to understand that these are our national monuments, and they need to take care of them and not deface them."

Newsday called the number printed on the statue and a man said he paid someone to put his number as an advertisement there.